Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Android - NetQ - 1.9.0

NetQ 1.9.0 is now in the market. Along with a few random fixes, the new features are:

1. Scan a barcode to search Netflix
While in the search tab, press the menu button and select Barcode Search. If the Barcode Scanner app is not installed, you will be prompted to install it first. After installation, or if the app is already present, you will be presented with the barcoding scanning window. Maneuver your phone so that the barcode is in the window. Once the barcode image is recognized the resulting barcode string is forwarded to Google to be translated into the product name. The product name (if found) is then placed into NetQ's search box and a Netflix title search is started. Barcode search was only tested using UPC codes found on DVDs and BluRays.

2. At Home widget
You can now place a widget on your home screen to display the movies that Netflix reports as either being at your house or in transit to/from your home. When adding the widget, choose the widget that corresponds to the number of movies you are allowed to receive at one time from Netflix (Netflix currently offers 1-4 movies out at a time). So, if you have 2 movies at a time, choose the NetQ (2x2) widget. Similarly, if you have 4 movies out a time, choose the NetQ (2x4) widget.

Both of these features are considered beta as barcode search cannot be tested in the emulator (and therefore has only been tested on my Nexus One running Android 2.2) and the widget is the first I have developed. Please report any issues encountered.